After returning home from Asgard, all seems peaceful on Earth. However, soon monsters begin to break through from their prisons and run amok on the world. Anton and Jiayi must defend their town while also trying to track down Yaldabaoth. But soon, they find they won't have to look very far, as an angel calls Anton to serve Heaven in battle...

I stepped out of the front door to my store. It was the dead of night outside. The entire town of Danforth was sound asleep and the chirping of crickets was the only sound I could hear. It was a cloudless night, and the moon shown brightly upon me, accompanied by the stars.

My backpack was slung over my shoulders. I had packed up in the evening, after I transported my astral projection back to Earth from Heaven. I had taken some of my most valuable treasures, such as a couple of my spellbooks, several of my most valuable treasures, and of course, my clarinet. Jiayi had appeared in my room soon after I woke up, and I had taken the clarinet back from him. I was glad he hadn't been vaporized by the angels after I left.

Jiayi had gone out to grab one last meal in Maine before we left. I knew it was time to go. I had grown found of Danforth, but after multiple witnesses saw me fighting off the hungry ghosts and the dullahan, I knew it was time to leave. I had told my vampire friend to meet me in front of my store at this hour, and then, we would begin to walk to a new home, somewhere far off.

I pulled out my key from my pocket and put it in the lock. I turned it, locking up my store. I had placed several wards and charms on the place, as I had left a number of magical artifacts behind. Although not dangerous, I didn't want them falling into the wrong hands. The spells I had placed on the house would prevent magical beings from entering it and render it invisible to mortal eyes.

In my left hand, I held my staff. In my right, I held Bill's cage. Inside, Bill was scurrying around wildly.

I took off my backpack and put it on the ground. I unzipped it and look down my magical artifacts in there. My clarinet was on the top of the pile, and underneath it was the rest.

I put Bill's cage inside my bag. Bill stopped running around and looked up at me. Despite being just an animated wooden carving, he looked confused.

"Its alright, Bill," I said, patting the cage. "We're going to a new home. I've done this many times before. We wizards…we wander the Earth. Usually, we don't remain in a location for a long time…So, don't worry. This is normal."

With that, I zipped up the bag, sealing it. I was glad Bill was technically alive, otherwise he might die of starvation or lack of air on the upcoming journey.

I slung my backpack over my shoulders again. It was a bit heavy, but I could manage fine. Leaning on my staff, I waited for Jiayi, the cool wind rustling my dark hair.

After a moment, my vampire friend appeared out of the shadows. He looked very pleased with himself. I noticed he was wearing a new jacket. Specifically, he was wearing a long, brown cargo jacket.

"Find a nice snack?" I asked.

Jiayi grinned in response. "Oh yes. I found a biker who was abusing his wife. I walked up to him, and told him to stop. He tried to intimidate me, threatening me with his fists. I responded by hurling his motorcycle into the woods. He tried to fell, but I caught him, drained him off, and drained his qi. I then stole his jacket. Looks good, does it not?"

I shrugged. "Looks fine…I guess. You ready for the journey ahead?"

Jiayi nodded. "We've done this a million times before, Anton. I'm always ready for an adventure. We shouldn't be troubled by any monsters, will we? Are the barriers repairing themselves?"

I nodded. "With Yaldabaoth dead, his influence on the barriers will have ended and they should begin fixing themselves. Everything will be back to normal soon enough. But there are always monsters that can walk the Earth and I'm sure we'll run into them."

"Well, good," Jiayi replied. "After all, without any fights to keep us busy, the journey could get boring pretty fast. I wonder what we'll fight?"

I grinned. "I'd love to meet Slenderman! Word on the street is that he's been driving people insane through the internet!"

"Slenderwhat?" My vampire friend asked.

"I'll tell you all about him on the way," I said. "Everybody thinks he's a fictional creation on the internet, but that's far from the truth…"

"Speaking of which, where are we going?" Jiayi questioned.

"Er…you know, I hadn't thought of that," I said. "Well, we can figure that out on the way."

"I always did want to go to Arizona," Jiayi said, looking up at the sky. "Lot's of nice terrain there."

"Arizona?" I said, making a face. "That's way too hot! Let's go somewhere a bit more developed. Like…New York or even Washington D.C.!"

"Cities never agreed with me," My friend said. "Plus, all the political stuff that goes on there can drive anything insane."

I rolled my eyes. "Well, whatever. Like I said, we can argue about this on the road!"

Jiayi sighed, but said, "Fine." He began to move forwards, toward the edge of town.

I moved up next to him. My vampire friend turned to me, and said, "Hey, what was up with that speech you gave before stabbed Yaldabaoth? That sounded really rehearsed. Have you been practicing that?"

"Oh, please," I said, as we moved past the last few houses in town and onto the main road. "Arnold never gave a speech that long. The longest one he ever did before killing somebody was like five words."

Jiayi sniffed. "Well, then it was one of the others, like…Fallone or-"

"Stallone!" I shouted. "You don't have any idea what you're talking about! I bet you've never even seen any of these movies!"

"Sure I have!" Jiayi said. "There was that one we watched together…with…with the terrorists and the…the knife fight…What was it again…?"

We continued to chat as we moved away from my temporary home and into the darkness. I took one last look at Danforth behind us, before turning my attention to the road ahead.

I saw a bright future ahead of me.

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